The Council of Graduate Schools’ Preparing Future Faculty to Assess Student Learning initiative was a three-year project to identify models for infusing undergraduate learning assessment skills into existing Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) programs. With support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Teagle Foundation, and in collaboration with seven funded institutions and 19 affiliates, the project involved close to 1,300 graduate students and 200 faculty across the humanities, social sciences, and STEM. Funded research partners included Cornell University, Harvard University, Indiana University, Michigan State University, North Carolina A&T State University, the University of California, Merced, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
By participating, these institutions sought to
- prepare a cadre of skilled graduate students who would become champions for undergraduate teaching and learning upon ascension to the professoriate;
- develop and embed a portfolio of sustainable activities in existing programs for preparing future faculty; and
- improve undergraduate learning outcomes through gateway course reform and cross-disciplinary conversation.